


absolutely, positively fine

by penguin_prince



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, M/M, Post-Peaceful Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), liberties taken on markus' android powers, markus is a good soft dude, north and josh are there but briefly, simon has insomnia and is slowly shutting down lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24609691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penguin_prince/pseuds/penguin_prince
Summary: Simon is broken, and he's exhausted, and he isn't quite sure on how he's even still functioning at this point, but so far he's been able to keep up with the tasks he's been given. He keeps up with his work, picks up slack from Markus, because ra9 only knows just how overwhelmed Markus must be in these times of negotiation and creating new laws in place for the newly freed androids. Simon is a caretaker, his need to help and comfort is written deeply in his code, it's hard for him to deny anyone any kind of help.So, he does his work. He does Markus' work. He helps Josh with the children, helps North with angry androids, and does every task he is given.And he is oh so tired.Or,Simon has insomnia, and Markus worries.
Relationships: Markus/Simon (Detroit: Become Human)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 121





	absolutely, positively fine

**Author's Note:**

> im never going to finish this, so have it as is
> 
> i wrote this when i was 3 weeks sleep deprived and my insomnia was at its worst, and i needed to vent so i projected on poor simon. sorry simon.
> 
> apologies if this is all over the place and innate ramblings, i was barely functioning when i wrote this lol

Simon is tired. Scratch that, he is downright _exhausted._ Not a really known fact about androids, that humans don't care to know, is that androids? They need sleep too. Granted, they can sleep less than humans and stay awake much longer than them too, but at the end of the day, androids can feel tired too.

Cut back to Simon, who hasn't been able to enter stand by, let alone stasis in a month. A _month._ There seems to be a glitch in his system, a flaw in his code that is blocking him from accessing the command to bring him into stasis. And he's tried, oh he's tried very hard to diagnose and troubleshoot the problem, but he can't even _find the problem._ He can only take his best educated guess on the issue, and that leads to this: Simon is broken. 

Simon is broken, and he's exhausted, and he isn't quite sure on how he's even still functioning at this point, but so far he's been able to keep up with the tasks he's been given. He keeps up with his work, picks up slack from Markus, because ra9 only knows just how overwhelmed Markus must be in these times of negotiation and creating new laws in place for the newly freed androids. Simon is a caretaker, his need to help and comfort is written deeply in his code, it's hard for him to deny anyone any kind of help.

So, he does his work. He does Markus' work. He helps Josh with the children, helps North with angry androids, and does every task he is given.

And he is oh so tired.

He doesn't think anyone has noticed, just how tired he is, just how much work he has on his table, how he hasn't slept in. A. Month.

But Simon is still functioning, if you could call it that, and he's doing his tasks, and keeping everyone happy, and isn't that all that truly matters? He can keep this up, he'll bleed until he's rung dry and at that point he'll try his best to squeeze the last drop out. 

It's fine. He's fine.

\--

Simon is carrying a load of gardening supplies in his arms, because he promised Josh and the children that he would help them set it up, teach them how to tend to it and nurture it, when his vision suddenly glitches and sputters, warnings flashing brokenly across his sight, until it flickers off completely. Simon startles as he's plunged into darkness, and the supplies he was carrying clatters to the ground. Ringing and static play in his ears, and he reaches up to press against them in the hopes it would sooth the noise. It doesn't.

Simon does his best not to panic. Simon is good at that, afterall. Remaining coolheaded, and definitely not spiralling into what could only be described as an oncoming panic attack.

He is fine. This is fine. Afterall, what's some simple audio and visual failure? Simon is fine.

After a moment, _(it felt like an eternity, trapped in darkness, nothing to hear but high pitched ringing and static blaring in his ears,)_ his audio processors click a few times before coming back online. His visuals come back soon after, but not before a concerned, 

"Simon?" sounds in front of him.

He blinks a few times as his eyes refocus, and he turns to the person who seems to be concerned. Which is the exact person he _didn't_ want to see him malfunctioning in the middle of the hallway.

Markus takes a few steps closer, concern written quite clearly across his face. Simon immediately flushes with embarrassment and drops to his knees to pick up the scattered gardening tools across the concrete, heat crawling up the back of his neck.

"Uh- ah, Markus. Is there something I can help you with?" He stubbornly keeps his eyes trained firmly down, as his hands fumble with the small shovels he had dropped.

He hears, rather than sees, Markus step up in front of him before leaning down to help Simon pick up the mess he made, which only leads to Simon feeling _worse,_ because Markus is already stressed as it is, and now he's taking up his precious time because he's clumsy and glitching.

Simon lifts his head slightly, but still can't bring himself to look Markus directly in the eyes, and reaches to take the packets of seeds out of his hands.

"Don't worry Markus, I can clean this up myself-" 

Simon stutters to a stop when Markus reaches out and clasps one of Simon's hands between both of his own.

"Simon," Markus starts, and Simon struggles to keep back a shudder at the pure worry that he detects in his voice, "What's wrong?" 

The thing about Markus, is that he is straight forward. He doesn't pull his punches, says what is on his mind and finds it easy to confront whatever issue he comes across, and usually this is a trait Simon greatly admires. A feature that he sometimes wishes he could obtain somehow. But in the moment, he absolutely hates this part of Markus, because he doesn't ask if Simon is okay, because he knows he isn't. He doesn't beat around the bush, as the synthetic skin on his hands melt away, leaving the white of his true self to be on display.

He wants to interface, to find out what's wrong, but Simon… He can't let him do that. Because Markus is important, and he shouldn't be wasting any time on Simon. On malfunctioning, broken Simon.

So Simon carefully extracts his hand from Markus' grip, and ignores the sudden drop of guilt in his stomach when he can clearly see the hurt cross Markus' features.

"Nothing at all, Markus. Was there anything you needed?" Simon asks, desperately trying to steer the conversation away from himself as he gathers the rest of the tools into his arms.

Markus stares at him with his scrutinizing gaze, and Simon, the coward that he is, avoids all eye contact as he rises from his knees and back onto his feet, Markus' eyes following his face all the way.

"Simon." Markus' voice is dripping with… _pity._ And Simon cannot handle it, can not handle this, so he takes a deep breath, before Markus can get another word in, and steadies himself.

"Sorry Markus, I promised Josh that I would help him, and I'm already late. I'll see you later." 

Simon can't give him a wave due to the supplies in his arms, so he gives him an awkward little bow, bending at the waist, before hurriedly scurrying away, like the coward that he is. Markus turns to call out for him, but Simon promptly ignores it, and hurries away.

This is fine. Everything is fine.

\--

Simon feels sick. Whatever the android equivalent is, at least. His hands won't stop shaking, he finds his lungs working at double the capacity, taking up precious energy, even though he doesn't technically need to. His chest is constricting, and he presses a trembling hand to it and feels how fast his heart is beating inside his ribcage. His mind feels frazzled, raw, like an exposed wire. Every sound around him seems to be amplified, thinks that maybe his audio processors are going haywire again.

He doesn't need this right now. He can't _handle_ this right now.

So he does what he's best at. He shoves the feeling way down deep, and promptly ignores it. Takes a few steading breaths, before going back to focusing on the mountain of paperwork piling on his desk. Ignores the tremors that make his handwriting slightly wobbly, ignores just how fast his heart is beating, ignores the feeling settling into his core.

It's fine.

\--

Turns out, he _might_ not be doing so fine. Jury's still out.

The longer he goes without entering stasis, the more irritable he becomes, the more unstable he becomes. Every day his stress levels rise a little more, his patience fades a bit too quickly, and he snaps much more often. He snaps. Calm Simon, patient Simon, caring Simon, finds himself snapping and getting nippy with people who don't even deserve it. And he feels terrible for it, immediately apologises right after, insists to make it up to whoever he raises his voice to. Which only adds onto his workload, adds to his stress, and Simon feels himself fraying at the edges, slowly becoming undone. 

But there's nothing to be done, nothing he can do. He's broken, and he's so tired, and he just wants everything to stop.

But it. It's just fine.

\--

Simon is sitting at a small oval table, seated across and next to the people he considers his best friends. Josh and North are to his right and left respectively, while Markus sits across from him.

He should be paying attention to the discussion, it's important, but he really can't focus due to the pulsing pressure rising steadily in his temples. He's minutely relieved at the fact he agreed to remove his LED, because he's sure that the constant red circling on his forehead would have given him away by now. Every now and then he chimes in with a soft hum, and no one seems to notice how uncomfortable Simon is becoming over time, but that's okay because he doesn't want them to know. He's quiet today, but he's been quiet most days recently anyways.

He tries very hard to tune into the conversation, to be an active participant, but by the time he manages to focus in, it appears like the meeting is over. Simon lets out a sigh of relief, glad that he can swiftly retire to his room for a few moments of peace before going back out to help some fellow androids familiarize themselves with the outside world.

But when he goes to stand up, a warning pops up in his vision before both his legs completely shut down, causing Simon to crumple to the floor, the chair clattering loudly behind him. Great, this is just fantastic.

His friends immediately come to his aid, and honestly this is worse than just Markus' finding him. His best friends are here to see just how weak he is.

Josh and North are by his side in mere seconds, their concerned calls of his name blurring over each other, disorientating Simon's focus even more.

The flash of red across his vision fades away and he feels his limbs come back online, and oh, is he grateful the malfunction only lasted a few moments. It makes explaining away the problem much easier.

"Simon, are you okay?" North asks as she hooks Simon's arm around her shoulders, supporting him back onto his feet.

"That was quite the tumble." Josh carefully places his hand on Simon's shoulder and Simon can just feel the shame crawling up his back.

He tries to play it off, carefully removing himself from their grips, stumbling back.

"Ah, nothing to worry about, you guys. I've just got old joints, they give out every now and again. I'm fine." And it's not completely a lie. He's an old model, with parts that are no longer up to date, but that is completely fine. Everything's fine.

North seems very suspicious and Josh looks at him like he knows something is off, but can't quite put his finger on it, and despite his brain screaming at him to _not_ look at Markus, he chances a glance up, and immediately regrets it. Markus has risen from his seat, hands flat on the table as he leans forward to inspect the scene, and is leveling an intense stare towards Simon, leaving the hair on his arms standing up.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Josh asks, taking a cursory look over his body, and Simon realizes he needs to leave before one of them try to scan him. If they scan him, they'll definitely figure out that Simon hasn't slept in a month, and he can't become another burden upon his friends shoulders. So he steps away, gathers his papers from the table and inches towards the door, staring off to the side so he doesn't have to see all of their pitying faces.

"Yes, yes. I'm quite fine, but I do have to go now." He flashes them the smallest of smiles before exiting the room, his heart pounding in his chest and sweat cooling on his brow. 

He walks as fast as he can while still looking like he's just simply walking, and not cowardly running from the worried stares from his friends. Because he doesn't want- doesn't _need_ their concern, their pity and worry. He's fine. _He's fine._

He's-

Simon finds an empty corridor, a small secluded corner, and leans against the wall, limply sliding down until he almost curls into his knees. Malfunction errors keep ringing in his ears, telling him what he already knows, what he can already feel happening. His head thunks solidly against the plaster and he lets out a shuddering breath while his sensors helpfully indicate to him that he's running low on his tear duct fluid. He hadn't realized the liquid running down his face. His sight flickers between static and darkness, his legs and hands numbing.

He's… 

Fuck. 

\---

It doesn't register in Simon's brain on how long he has spent curled into this corner, can't tell if it's been hours or minutes. He's trying so hard to will his limbs to move, to conjure the strength to lift himself back onto his feet, but he's just so tired. He's so exhausted, and if he weren't so completely sleep deprived he might have been nervous, might have been anxious over how quickly his body is failing him. He wonders vaguely if this small corner will be his grave, he wonders if he's shutting down for good.

This isn't… this isn't fair. All he wanted his entire existence is to do something memorable, something good. The need to accomplish, to satisfy and to help. He tried his best, his entire life, to do good. To care and to comfort. That's all he wanted and he.. he couldn't even do that. 

He supposes this is nonconsequential, there are dozens of PL600's in the world, his model, his face. Just one shutting down, numb and alone, would be no severe loss. 

Maybe… maybe this is just how it must be.

He always thought that he would at least die a heroic death, a sacrifice for their greater cause. A simple pawn on the chess board, but the pawn that must be sacrificed to get to the king. He always thought he would die for something, for someone. Not… not like this. Not with warnings flickering in and out, blaring red, demanding attention. Not with deafening ringing in his ears, crackling static in the background. Not with a muffled voice making its way through the fog. Not with…

A voice?

This can't be right, there's something wrong with his audio processors in the first place, it isn't outside the realm of possibility that he's hearing things.

But then there's a pulse of something, skittering across his system, almost like a... plea. It gives him just the right amount of shock to start his reboot process. Quick pulses of electricity crackles across his skin and he feels his biocomponents forced into action. Simon takes in a gasping breath, his systems coming back online.

His sight blinks back to life, and he's immediately greeted with a frantic looking Markus looming over him.

"Simon!" Markus' voice sounds strained, and he can.. _feel_ the jumble of anxiety and terror crashing like waves through Markus' being. 

Simon tries his best to gather his bearings, groggily looks from side to side, before his gaze lowers to the strong pressure wrapped around his forearms. Markus' hands are glowing a bright blue from where they're anchored onto Simon, and he can feel his emotions flowing into him through their contact, and belatedly realized Markus has interfaced with him.

Simon raises his head back up to look at Markus' face, expression scrunched up in fear.

"Simon, c'mon, talk to me." Markus pleads, his voice giving way to a very distinct tremble. Simon feels another pulse from Markus' hands and takes in another breath as it sends more energy into his systems. Feeling comes back into his extremities, the last of the static clearing from his vision, leaving only Markus in his sights.

Markus. Who has found him half alive in a small, hidden corner. Oh. Fuck. Simon doesn't know what to say, how to explain or defend himself.

"..Hello, Markus."

Idly, in the back of Simon's head, he knows that was the absolute _stupidest_ thing to say in the moment.

Markus reacts instantly, his features twisting up in disbelief and fury, and Simon feels the waves of his emotions wash over him.

"Are you insane?? Why in the world would you hide this from us? From- from _me?"_

Ah. Right. Interfaced. Markus definitely saw flashes of what Simon has been dealing with, of what he's been putting himself through. This is going to be… hard.

"You could have died, Simon! If I hadn't found you, you would've-"

"Markus..."

"-shut down for good! Are you crazy, why-"

"Markus."

"-did you do this to yourself?? Why wouldn't you-"

_"Markus."_

Markus cuts himself off, his breath catching in his chest, his throat working up and down as he tries to strangle his emotions into place. Markus' hands slide up from Simon's forearms, breaking their connection, to grip at his shoulders instead, jostling him closer.

_"Why_ wouldn't you let me help you?" His voice is strained, his eyes damp, and Simon feels the sickening feeling of guilt swirl low in his stomach. He didn't mean for this to happen, he didn't want to cause trouble.

"I.." Simon finds it difficult to speak, the mess of words he wants to say all jumbling together in an amalgamation of strained feeling and frantic words. What can he even say at this point? Are there any combinations of words that would get Markus to stop looking at him like this?

He settles on, "I'm sorry." 

Markus' entire demeanor changes, the fight seemingly draining out of him, the only emotions clear on his figure is grief and exhaustion.

"I-.. I was so scared, Simon. I thought you had- that you-"

Simon's throat constricts, he hates that he did this. He doesn't want this, didn't mean for this to happen. It's the last thing in the entire world that Simon wanted, for Markus to be loaded by Simon's stress, by his burden.

"I'm sorry." His vision is blurring again, but from the moisture collecting in his eyes, rather than another visual malfunction.

"I don't know what I would do if you, if you ever-" Markus' fingers curl into the fabric covering Simon's shoulder with force that his hands tremble.

"Why didn't you tell me, Simon?" His voice is cracked, hurt and fragile, and Simon hates that it's all his fault.

"You.." Simon tries to start, swallowing hard against the lump forming in his throat, "You're so important Markus. You led us to, to freedom. I.. I'm not like you, or North or Josh. I'm not a leader, not a fighter, not a lover. I'm.. I'm just a follower. Barely. I'm a coward." Simon chokes on his breath as he watches Markus' expression crumble before him. He feels thirium start to run down his face, replacement from his empty tear ducts. 

"Simon-"

"I didn't think- that it was worth it." The, _I didn't think I was worth it,_ remains unsaid, "I would rather- rather suffer alone than cause more burden on our people, on _you,_ than I already have." Simon hiccups on a his breath, lungs struggling, and averts his gaze downwards. He can't continue if he keeps looking at the absolutely broken expression across Markus' face.

"I have- I've failed so many times. I let my people rot and deteriorate around me, too scared and too cowardly to save them. I- I got _shot_ at Stratford Tower and almost completely jeopardized the mission, I didn't want to _fight_ for our freedom during the march, I wanted to run- all I do is- is _mess up_ and I just- I didn't want-" 

Markus brings his hands to Simon's face and tilts his head back up, thumbs messily wiping and smearing the blue streams down his cheeks, and the gesture alone brings a fresh wave of thirium to well up and fall from his eyes.

"I- I couldn't stand the thought of- of being such a burden again-" 

Markus curls his arms around Simon's shoulders and pulls him forward, one of his hands smooth into the hair at the back of Simon's hair, effectively crushing Simon into his arms, his face into his shoulder.

"Stop. Listen to me, Simon. Listen to me." 

Simon is taking gasping breaths against Markus' collarbone, steadily soaking through Markus' shirt with his tears, 

"None- _none_ of that is true. I know I can't just, magically change your mindset, but I want you to know, _need_ you to know, that I could never think of you as a burden. You're my best friend-- fuck, more than that, you're the most important person to me."

Simon almost can't comprehend the words spilling from Markus' mouth, can't understand how, or why Markus would ever feel such a way for him, but.. Simon reaches out with trembling arms and loops them around Markus' waist, bunches the fabric that clings to Markus' back in his fists, and holds on tightly. 

It's so hard to believe, that its possible what Markus is saying could be true, but.. for what reason would Markus have to lie to him? When it's just the two of them, surrounded by the dark and silence, save for Simon's ragged breaths and Markus' confessions, why wouldn't they lay themselves bare? 

"Markus-" Simon croaks against Markus' neck, and sags against him, "I'm so exhausted."

Simon can feel Markus' chest hitch as he struggled on a breath, before he folds Simon even closer into his arms.

"I, I know. We're gonna fix you up, you're gonna be okay." 

And for the first time that entire month, Simon thought that Markus might actually help him become fine.

\--

Markus carries him back, because while he was able to boost Simon's operating systems back online, that doesn't mean Simon can use his legs. So, after a while of being huddled together in the secluded corridor, Markus suggests he take Simon back to his room and find some android technicians to help them figure out whatever is causing Simon's inability to sleep. And that's what they do.

Simon can't find the energy to feel embarrassed about being carried through New Jericho, onlookers probably gawking as they travel by. He can't help but wonder though, what a mess they must look like at the moment. Thirium smudged across Simon's face, blue staining Markus' fingertips and shirt, Simon almost completely limp in Markus' grip. What a pair they must make. 

Simon keeps his eyes closed as they make their way to Simon's room, content enough to lull his head against Markus' shoulder, ground himself by focusing on Markus' arms hooked under his knees and around his back, easily supporting his weight.

He hears the footfalls of other androids, most of them stepping out of their way, but he makes out hurried steps coming towards them, and braces for the onslaught that must be his friends.

"Markus!"

"Simon!"

Ah, he was correct. North and Josh both cry out their names as they approach, stumbling to match Markus' pace when he doesn't stop walking when they arrive.

"What the fuck happened?" North reaches out and places her hand against Simon's forehead, and he instinctively leans into her touch. 

"The two of you just disappeared, we were worried, and now you come back looking like someone tossed you through the ringer?" Josh sounds incredibly nervous, and Simon can't help but feel bad that he's made his friends upset.

Simon manages to crack open his eyes and focus on using his voice.

"I'm… fine, you guys.." He manages, very unconvincingly. 

"He is _not_ fine," Markus retorts, looking down at him briefly, and Simon ducks his head sheepishly, "Don't ever listen to him if he tells you he's fine."

"Again," North pipes up, "What the fuck happened to him?" She asks again, keeping a firm, grounding hand on Simon's shoulder.

"He hasn't been able to enter stasis in about a month." Markus informs them, and the two of them immediately explode.

"A whole _month??"_

"Simon, how have you even been functioning?"

"Jesus christ, why didn't you tell us?" 

Simon remains silent as they dump question after question on him, and he increasingly feels the guilt start to rise once more. It made sense to him, to keep this under wraps, in the hopes of not worrying anyone, in the hopes that they wouldn't waste precious resources on him, but as he listens to the panic in his friends voices, he can't help but feel regret and remorse for not telling them sooner.

"Don't worry, I've already lectured him plenty, and I'm sure this won't be the last time we talk about this, but right now we need to focus on helping Simon." Markus easily slips into his Fearless Leader mode, commanding attention and alertness, and Simon can't help but admire him.

"Yeah- yeah, do we know why Simon hasn't slept for so long?" Josh asks, curiously peering over Markus' shoulder to scan over Simon's features. 

"No idea, just know that it's definitely not by choice." 

They all slow to a stop once they arrive at Simon's door, North quickly stepping up to open the door for the four of them, allowing them inside.

Markus heads directly to Simon's bed and sets him down with the utmost care, making sure he's settled comfortably before turning to the other two in the room. Even after everything, Simon can barely believe how gently Markus treats him.

"Okay, I'm going to run a bio scan on Si to try and locate the problem, and assess any damage that might've happened during his shut down." Markus turns to North,

"Can you go get some thirium packets? I want to make sure his thirium levels are optimal." 

North immediately nods and reaches forward to pat Simon on his calf, tossing out a, "Stay alive, I'll be right back." before darting out of the room.

"Josh, can you check if we have any technicians on site? If Simon has more damage than expected, I might need their help."

"Yeah, yeah." Josh nods easily, claps Markus on the shoulder, "Take care of him."

"Always will." Markus responds, reaching up to tap Josh's hand with his own. Josh grins back at him for a moment,

"Good man." 

Before quickly taking his leave, the door giving a faint clicking sound as he closes it behind him.

Which leaves Simon alone with Markus once more. Markus takes a few steps, closing the gap between him and the bed Simon resides on, and sits down next to him, leg folding under him, cushion sinking under his weight. Markus gives a small sigh, his shoulders slouching slightly when he leans his elbows atop his knees. Simon rolls his head to the side to take in Markus' appearance, and feels exceptionally bad when he sees how tired Markus looks from the events from today. He hates being the cause of anyone's distress, but especially Markus'. He summons the strength to lift his hand to place on top of Markus', and gives him a sad smile when Markus meets his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Markus." 

Another sigh leaves Markus' lungs, his face pinching in an emotion Simon can't quite place. He leans forward, and runs the hand not being held in Simon's grip up his arm, and softly cups his jaw with the palm of his hand.

"Just… promise me, if there's ever a problem, you'll tell me from now on." He asks, and Simon notes the pleading tone in his voice. He can't help but hesitate, and Markus immediately catches it. He turns the hand under Simon's and grasps his hand, palm to palm, and Simon's heart stutters slightly in his chest.

"Simon.. please, _promise me._ I don't want anything like this to ever happen to you again. Please." And, god, how could he refuse? With Markus looking at him with such an earnest expression, holding onto him so gently, like Simon might shatter under his touch. Simon has never been interested in denying Markus anything.

"I promise, Markus." 

The tension Simon didn't even notice lifts from Markus' shoulders, and he gives him a small smile.

"Good." 

He leans back, hand sliding away from Simon's face, and he mourns the loss. He brings the hand to rest on top of Simon's instead, sandwiching his hand between his own.

"Alright. I'm going to try and see if I can find the reason you haven't been able to sleep. Hopefully it won't take too long." Markus informs him before the skin on his hands phase away, exposing the chassis underneath, requesting interface. Simon swallows nervously, before doing the same, allowing the connection. Markus' expression becomes focused, gaze going slightly glassy as he takes in information rapidly, and Simon can feel his determination leaking in from where his hand is clasped in Markus'. He doesn't quite know what to do, or what to think while Markus reads through his code thoroughly. He doesn't want to project anything and accidentally break Markus' attention. 

He settles on staring up at the ceiling, eyes following the cracks and grazes that break up the plaster, and tries to keep his mind still. 

\--

He isn't sure how long it takes, mere minutes or long hours, but eventually Markus blinks a few times before his eyes come back into focus. He tilts his head down and gives Simon a relieved smile. Simon can't squash the small bubble of hope that blooms in his gut.

"Alright, I think I might've found and solved the problem. How are you feeling?"

Simon contemplates the question. He doesn't really feel different, exhaustion still settled into his bones and core. His body still feels heavy and lax, sunk comfortably into the mattress under him. 

"I'm.. not sure.. I can't say that I.. feel any… different.." Simon's words seem to slur together and eventually petter off, eyes fluttering closed. He barely has half the mind to register the faint feeling of pressure pressed to his forehead and the light squeeze that circles his hand. The only warning he gets as his consciousness wanes are the words that flash under his eyelids,

**INITIATING STASIS, PLEASE STAND BY.**

And then, everything goes blissfully black.

**Author's Note:**

> there you have it, 5000 words of simon just being stupid dumb bc he doesnt want to be a bother to anyone, hope you enjoyed. sorry it ends there, but i imagine after simon wakes up from sleeping for probably like 3 days straight, he feels much better and he and markus smooch. the end


End file.
